Fishing Blog primarily about fly fishing in the UK and USA. The objective is to promote the gentle art of casting the fly and catching beautiful fish. The author although a qualified fly fishing instructor with 40 years experience does not teach commercially but likes teaching and promoting fly fishing as a hobby.

Friday, 4 January 2013

Friday 28th
December found my son in law and I plus some friends from work fishing the
Albury Estates Western Lake. The water was crystal clear and you could see
trout cruising the margins. Air temperature was 11C and the water was 7C. It
was overcast, threatening to rain, with a light breeze from the SW. Having got
a freezer full of trout from fishing Bewl Water I purchased a brace ticket and
decided to try and catch a visually targetted fish cruising the margins using a
nymph. The fish were easily spooked and even when I dropped down to a 4lb
tippet they still turned away. After a couple of hours of fun trying to hook up
and with everyone else landing fish, I decided to go back to using an 8lb
leader and a lure and restore my reputation! So I switched to an intermediate
line and put a brown minkie on. I cast into the middle of the lake and no
sooner had I pulled the fly under than it was hit really hard. The fish was
just under 3lb and put up a strong fight before coming to the net. It was in
perfect condition with a full tail and beautiful colouring. It was now about
noon and the fish characteristically seemed to go off the feed. After about an
hour of inactivity I spotted some fishing showing in the middle and moved into
position. It took me around six casts to get the distance right putting the
lure (a white minkie) into the feeding zone. As I stripped it in smoothly, it
was plucked. I kept it moving and it was plucked again, still I kept it moving
and a third time it was plucked. I amazed myself by keeping it moving and I got
the reward when it was finally hit hard and the fish hooked. A perfect fish of
two and a half pounds came reluctantly to the net. Whilst I prefer fishing wild
remote places the fisheries at Albury Estates are well run and the fish of good
quality. It is a good place to introduce beginners to as they have a good
chance of connecting with a decent fish.